The use of patches in medicine is far from a new idea, where it has been implemented in the past such as this flu vaccine with varying degrees of success, depending on the kind of disease or ailment that treats. Scientists at Seoul National University have developed a new smart patch which claims to be able to monitor as well as potentially treat Parkinson’s disease, and this bit of news would certainly be more than welcome to caregivers as Parkinson’s disease patients can be quite taxing on the caregiver at times.
This particularly new patch will rely on the wonders of flexible electronics to get the job done, as it is also capable of continuously monitor muscle movements, where among them include the tremors that are associated with Parkinson’s. Such readings will be stored away on record for reference later on, and upon making a comparison with past results, the algorithm will determine whether the wearer requires any medication at that point in time.
Should the patch decides it is time, the right dose of drugs will be administered to the patient via his or her skin. This is made possible courtesy of nanomaterials, where they happen to be silicon nanosensors that monitor muscle movement, using chromium and gold nanowires to monitor skin temperature, with silica nanoparticles storing the medication.
Filed in . Read more about Science.